Stone slab discovery reveals clues to major deities of ancient Assyrian empire

A huge stone slab discovered near the Iraqi city of Mosul offers new clues to the major deities of the ancient Assyrians, who ruled one of antiquity’s great empires.

Unearthed by a German team at the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh, the relief depicts the 7th-century BC ruler King Ashurbanipal, flanked by the gods Ashur and Ishtar. They are accompanied by a mythological creature known as a fish genius, who granted the gods and the king life and salvation.

“These figures suggest that a massive winged sun disk was originally mounted above the relief,” one of the archaeologists said, adding that more work is needed to fully understand the monument’s significance.